Sorry that I misunderstood you. The first day with the Wilwood I used the BP-10 street pads that came with my kit. 2 person told me they saw sparks on my brakes in separate occasions so I have little doubt the rotors were red hot. It was day time that they saw sparks.

Also my rotors developed crazing which must surpassed red hot temperature of cast iron. Try to crack your Lodge cast iron skillet - not too easy to do with an open flame. A few track days at these temperature will definitely crack them sooner or later.

 

No problem. Sparks,, now that's hard into the corner. Yes, I have seen cracking but that's with a very aggressive pad and on factory brembo Porsche brakes. Which i bet you know about. You used every bit of those brakes, i dont see it that often on MINI anymore on the track days I go to. Most of the time its on prep'd full on MINI track cars.

Awesome to see you pushing the MINI that hard.

 

I made use of the Quickjack. I finally had enough of the Milltek muffler knocking. I was trying to avoid the need to make four 1/4" shims for the muffler hangers to increase the next to no clearance between the mufflers and the heat shields. It was the first time I have this luxury of adequate headroom working under the Mini. I could see a situation much better and saved a lot of cussing. Also new was the use of the shinny Ridgid 1/4" impact driver.




It turned out I was able to bend a outside hanger a bit, and muscled enough clearance by re-aligning the slip joint that Milltek so nicely provided with an excellent clamp. I also removed the battery heat shield now that I realize it is there to keep the heat in.

Using the quickjack on rough pavement like our vast service facility can be quite difficult. With a smooth concrete garage floor you can slide the 80-lb jack to your heart's content but not on rough outdoor concrete surface. My technique require some precision and practice should make perfection.

I utilize the end that has two tiny wheels to maneuver one end under the Mini noting where that end needs to be at. I then lift the other end and move it under the Mini pivoting on the end that I first set. I think with a bit of practice I can do this with relative precision.



The jack kit includes two sets of rubber blocks which you use between the jack support trays and the jack points of the vehicle. Even with my not-slammed Mini I can only use the shorter one for the front. Because of the suspension rake I could use the taller block at the rear jack points. This gives about 1" of rise for the Quickjack from full flat before it starts to lift the Mini with sufficient leverage due to the parallelogram design - the flatter the jack the lower the lifting force. When you think of the suspension of the Mini and the parallelogram it is a very ingenius design.



this end has two tiny wheels to help move the jack


One thing that is most annoying about the quick jack is the end that you need to lift up so you can move it with the two tiny wheels at the other end is very hard to grab onto with you fingers against 80 lbs of the jack weight. The solution is to always place that end onto a piece of 2x4. It is the same technique I use for manhandling drywalls. How I hate drywall and asphalt roofing - both I'd done with the whole crew that was I, me, and myself.



Lastly the best place to store the Quickjack is under a vehicle in the garage.

 

PIR in July is all booked for local race events so no HPDE. I have been keeping my head down trying to make progress towards preparing for the Trailex open car trailer. There are a lot to juggle to make room for it as it is 105" wide and 21 feet long. I am really looking forward to get the trailer but the company cannot build their product fast enough so there is a rather long lead time before delivery.

this is someone else's; it illustrates the 11-foot long ramp which is one important feature for loading die Porsche


I scored a opened box Tekonsha 90195 P3 brake controller so the price is right. To my pleasant surprise it too has a manual brake lever which they never mention.

careful inspection tells me it has never been installed


the manual level is on the bottom



Originally I thought I would have to tear down this Phoenix modern inspired concrete block fence that I built in order to make room for the trailer. As I thought though more carefully I realized I can leave the concrete block fence as is, but to move the wooden fence farther in to vacate enough length for the 21-foot long trailer. This also avoids the need to relocate the mailbox. The best part of this arrangement is there is no chance the trailer can be stolen as it is blocked by the Sprinter motorhome what will tow it.




the Sprinter motorhome - it is built on the 18.5' short 318 model


it fits into most metropolitan standard parking spots



Soon, Desire would become a trailer queen.

 

Oh, nice!

 

Thanks Eddie. On Rennlist there is a sub-forum devoted for trailers and tow vehicles. Some of those enclosed trailers setup makes me very jealous. Over time many inevitably upgrade from open to enclosed trailer, often much longer, heavier, and better track equipped. Then a big truck to tow it. The proverbial slippery slope.

this one even has a nitrogen bottle; I know at least one has tire changing equipment


This thread has some of the most of trailer ****.

 

Nothing is easy if you are an import snob. The price I pay for this German built motorhome. It is equipped with a factory tow package. I was hoping that there is a 4-pin trailer controller connector in this rat-nest under the chief pilot seat as some T1N (first gen in NA) Sprinters has and some don't.




this seat must weighs 100 lbs


I tried trace the harness bundle back from the trailer 7-pin connectors but the conductors goes everywhere; only may be the power and ground ends here somewhere in the rat nest; there is definitely no plug-&-play 4-pin trailer brake controller interface connector in the wheelhouse

 

is that considered a class B? We are finally shopping for an RV, looking at older class A's from tiffin, newmar, and fleetwood. But the mpg & easier driving of a sprinter setup sure is appealing unfortunately they cost a lot more

 

It is class B, and probably the shortest on the market. 18.5 ft long and narrower than American trade vans, but circa 10.5 feet tall. The best part is I typically get 20 MPG on this 4-ton vehicle that has worst aerodynamics than the Mini hog which gets 7 MPG at the track.

Made by Westfalia in Germany but long NLA.

https://recreationalvehicles.info/20.../#lg=1&slide=0

 

I gave up on trailer envy when, at one DE event I have gone to, cars came in semis Now that is a bit beyond my pay grade.

 

On the test and tune day there were many big rigs like these. 90% has enclosed trailers. Our track team's Costco tote box looked very under-equipped.

 

I like these few photos of the Mini's tow vehicle.







all alone in Death Valley under starlight - taken with very long exposure


our track team cannot wait to be able to have a decent meal at the track like this; OK save the bier until the evening


Oh, it finally happened. I was giving Desire a head to toe spa and a lady neighbour waked by. She remarked that she like the Mini - it is so cute, she added.

 

And they are cute!

You have got a 13 year old car and it is still getting complements. The MINI is part of a very unique group of cars in which that is the case. And, unlike the other cars in that group, yours is the only one that can both be cute and have the heart of a Lion. The others all look like a tiger ready to punce... I take great pride in what my cute MINI will do out on the track. and then be ignored by the black and whites on the way home; try that in a Corvette. There are advantages to being cute... And look at the great company it attracts. Bonus!

On the other hand I envy your Sprinter. The best I have is a 2.4L Wrangler that can’t handle a stiff breeze without slowing down.

 

I cannot agree more. Few cars do not look dated after 13 years. I often look around in a big parking lot and take note of cars from all different era. Most stick out like a sore thumb after less than a decade. Mini is one that endures, unlike the VW Beetle. May be it is just that Mini or mini are styled to look like nothing else, like Porsche 911s or the classic Alfa GTV, or Guilia.

On the cute look a lot of folks have watched the Italian Jobs and subconsciously know the Mini is supposed to be driven with bravado. When I drive I am on a mission - no distracted driving ever. Occasionally when I take advantage of the unused bandwidth of the road very rarely do I trigger negative reaction from other drivers. Not so if I do the same with the Porsche. I can be driving by the book in the Porsche and some lowlife would deliberately try to pick a fight by intensionally cutting me off for no rhyme or reason.

It is nice to get compliments at the track like "oh, that is one fast Mini..."

 

While waiting for the trailer to be built, I am taking time to plan on the things that I need to devote some time to, like how to tie down the Mini and the Porsche onto this minimalist open car trailer. I want to avoid tying down via the wheels. For the Mini the back end should be easy using the Hotchkis adjustable lower control arms using an X straps.

For the front I suspect I will have to fabricate a pair of custom tie down anchors and bolt to one of the crash tube bolts one each side.

I envision a couple of brackets like these



I did a bit of imaging googling and this is the only thread that came up on trailering a Mini. He built a custom Mini tilt-trailer that is very compact. I looked into tilt trailer very early on but soon I saw more cons than pros - including approach angle (more relevant for the Porsche), complexity, and weight.

he tied down the Mini via the wheels which I don't like unless one use the proper net-type wheel tiedown


Tying down using the wheel spokes is also problematic because of abrasion wear. Sometimes I feel that I can be trying getting too much ahead of myself. Some of these problems are better solved when you actually have the specimens on hand .

 

Could you explain more why the wheel tie down (like shown in the picture) is undesirable and why the net type is better? I would have thought that the wheel type show would be good. I would have a fear that tying directly to the body of the car would cause fatigue in the tie down from all the movement it sees when the car bounces. Also the body structure won’t see that extra fatigue loading either if you use the wheels.

BTY - I LIKE that stubby little trailer, but not as a tilt.

 

I have zero experience with trailer tiedowns. Just some observations and what I read on Rennlist.

The ones in the photo just look really insecure and prone to work loose and slip off the tire. You can see .





The net type is really what they refer to as basket type, which I've seen enclosed car carriers use. Actually I seen them use chassis tiedown more often than wheel tiedown. These specialize carrier has a lot of provisions for flexible tiedown methods.





My Trailex has floor mount diedown anchors. Because of the all bolted construction it cannot use side tiedown as in the compact Mini trailer above.

I think as long as you don't cinch down the chassis crazy tight it is pretty hard to harm the suspension.

 

I a kind of like this method. They ain't going anywhere.



It is pointless for me trying to plan ahead. It is best wait until having the trailer, load the cars and see what pans out. All hinges on where the recessed tie-down anchors are WRT the cars' attachment points and constraints like the front spoiler lips. With short trailers, often one have to crisscross the straps to create 45 degree pulls.

 

Well I am going to steal this part....
My Coolerworks is installed and boy do I love it, driving home from my tuner yesterday I could not shift to 6 gear is there any kind of adjustment I need to do?
Ben

 

You do have to make alignment of the shifter. For me they are intuitive. There are up to 4. If you are sure go find the install instruction for the CAE on the German home site.

 

Thank you, I will.
Ben

 

One thing to note. The shifter has a centering spring, and so too the gearbox. You want them to be at rest at the same spot. The other adjustments are for setting the end stops for the shifter's left/right limits; and the reverse lockout.

 

It was the travel set screw adjusted it and all is great, thanks for the hint to look at CAE adjustment.
Ben
Love the shifter.

 

Installing a trailer brake controller as well as retrofitting the electric brake wiring from the cockpit to the 7-pin trailer turns out to be an involving project. I didn't want to do a hack job so it is like as if I was designing this aspect of the James Cook trailer prep design and execution. Tens of hours has gone into this.

this is one location that crossed my mind - but rejected


Instead of Curt Triflex 51140 I bought a Tekonsha 90195 P3 brake controller instead. It is more polished while costing just a little more. As the space between the dash and the knees is already less than generous I did not want to install there like most people would. I want a location that is most ergonomic, and hopefully with minimum negatives. I came up with the idea to repurpose the location for the ashtray.

I will never use the ashtray nor the 12V receptacle in it so this is a no brainer choice


While repurposing the ashtray location seems good, I need to check interference with the use of the two cup holders below. Also I want to maximize the utility of the ashtray opening. I set out to make provision for future installation of mobile device power supply.

the way the ashtray is fastened to the center console make this location ideal as I can reuse the two fasteners








more filing and refining as the dash opening has many bevel edges


I wanted to maximize the utility of this real estate so I tried to leave space for future installation of a mobile device power supply. For mounting the brake controller, I want to leave the option to use both type of mounts - a fixed mount (top) and a removable mount (bottom) so I drill two bolt holes that can accommodate either.








checked clearance against the worst case cupholder interference






The brake controller has 4 electrical connections. B+, ground, brake light, and trailer electric brake power output. The B+ and trailer electric brake power output wiring requires large diameter wire to minimize voltage drop so I chose 12 AWG wires. That should be more than adequate for the 18.5 feet James Cook and tandem trailer of 5000 lb capacity. I managed to find the contact insert for the trailer connector.

only the B+ (black) and Brake (blue) wires in the diagram carry the trailer brake current so I use 12 AWG for both; the ground (white) carries only the current for the controller electronics (no more than a few 100mA)

I made the tap connection with soldering so it is 100% secure; I also adequately strain-relief the wire



I tap into the cigarette lighter harness for the ground reference as it is the easiest; with this the wiring for the controller's harness is completed and I can mount the controller


I designed the aluminum faceplate so that the harness may be detached should in the future I want to modify the faceplate to add another accessory


I deliberately offset the brake controller as much to the left as possible to avail some real estate for adding another accessory in the future


this is the ideal location for the brake controller as I can use the right hand to modulate the manual brake control lever should it be necessary


I next dressed up the B+ power supply wiring into the driver seat box where a 30A auto-resettable breaker will be installed. I want a location where I can access it without having to remove the driver seat, so I came up with a way to mount it in the fuse panel behind the plastic access door. As one side of the breaker is the starting battery B+ the installation must be extremely secure and leave no chance to accidental short circuit.

the self-resetting breaker


I happen to have a piece of angle aluminum of the exact length for use as a supporting rail


I used locknuts so there is no chance the breaker would come loose and fall off; shorting the upstream side of the stud will be catastrophic


there are these two existing hole on the seat frame that I can utilize to fasten the aluminum support rail





I secure the aluminum rail to the seat frame utilizing the two existing screw holes - with Loctite


this is the battery B+ connection that one cannot afford to short out as vehicle fire is what is made of


a professional installation accomplished


In this entire trailer brake controller installation, I didn't cut or drill any hole. Everything I did is completely reversible to original, including the ashtray assembly.

with the help of my neighbor, we put the seat back - I hauled it out all by myself and it is very heavy and awkward


Mini can't wait for the tailer to arrive soon enough so it can go for a long ride

 

Boy! I am so glad there are no HPDE days in July at PIR for I would have signed up and only to see Desire panting in the parching sun with crapy lap time. We hate cloudless sunny days, unlike the local TV weatherman .

this July we are on track to have the most number of days exceeding 90F


Oh, and yes. There are HPDE events out in the Oregon desert. I would definitely sign up if I have a master class GT3 R race car like the Porsche Pink Pig, or AMG GT3, which have air conditioner. Yes. They have so much power and the smart DME only switch on the AC when the right pedal is not to the metal , which if you at my level that is very high duty cycle when the AC is on . But my Mini hog can hardly keep the AC running in the desert during the peak of summer.